Zafftig Woman with Uber Thick Thighs (35 Years Old, No Children) - San Antonio, TX

I haven't updated for a while. I actually went on a cruise from Dec 24th to Dec 28th, with one stop in Mexico. I would call this a questionable choice in judgement. I actually booked the cruise before I booked the surgery. I figured recouperating on the ship is just as easy as staying home. I have ready access to food 24/7, laundry services (I can send my laundry out for free, I cruise so much) and twice daily housekeeping. Can't beat that. The downside is that I was pretty sore, no pool beach activities in port, and my swelling seemed to get outragous on the sailing. One of the hardest parts of the cruise was using the bathroom. The toilet seats are super narrow and feel like sitting on a razor wire fence.

One thing that had been happening since surgery was that I got a headache, usually at night, everynight since the surgery. I thought maybe my neck was giving me a headache from being in a bad position unsupported or that my hair (I had buttock length Senegalese twists) was too heavy (although Ive had them that length for 8months). I started sleeping with a cervical support pillow, I took my hair out, I diligently performed cervical stabilization exercises and self cervical mobilization/manipulation with minimal decreases in severity of the headache. The severity of the headache progressively increased over time. For the first 7days the headache only happened at night. Then, the day after Christmas, when I was in Mexico (the one and only port of the cruise).I did a food tour around cozumel (awesome BTW) and my head started to hurt. Then it turned into a full blown migraine. Sensitivity to light, nausea, horrendus pain the whole kit and kiboodle. The migraine lasted about 10hrs. At first I thought maybe something I ate, and thats when the light bulb came on. Maybe it was all the supplements & meds that the surgeons office prescribed that gave me the headache. I was taking iron, b12, arnica, bromelain, & day/evening multivitamins plus norco. I stopped taking all of it and my headaches have not returned.

I looked more closely at the lables of the supplements, I noticed the B12 and the arnica both contain artificial sweeteners, which can cause headache and migraine. I don't use or consume any artificial sweeteners (give me cane sugar or honey please), to be safe I will leave all if it alone.

On the upside the kinesiotape worked great! The bruising got better and while the tape is on my swelling decreases! I also have less pain when taped. I wear the compression garment over the tape.

I didn't drink nearly enough water yesterday. I think I drank about 2 liters and I have been averaging about 3.5L (3 liters plain water and .5liter no caffeinated no sweetener herbal tea) since surgery. I think the lack of fluid has caused me to retain and swell. My contours are still visible, but sheesh! I definitely look bloated. My thighs are super swollen and tight. I'm very bruised. I look like my boyfriend beats me.

My measurements are still smaller
My original measurements were
OverBust 38
Under Bust 34
Waist 31
@belly Button 38
High hip: 45
Widest point: 48.5
Thighs: 27.5
Even Swollen My current Measurements are:
OverBust 38
Under Bust 34
Waist 29
@belly Button 37
High hip: 44
Widest point: 47
Thighs: 27

I've kept my diet super clean. Grain and dairy free. Organic produce and wild caught sea food. Very low glycemic foods. I try to eat an alkaline diet to encourage healing. I feel pretty good overall. Just swollen.

I decided to kinesiotape (sports tape) myself this morning to decrease the swelling and the bruising. We will see how it goes. I'm not sure how well it will work under the compression garment. I'll know in a few days when I change out the tape.

Last evening and then in the wee early hours of the night I caught the worst case of the hiccoughs (hiccups). They were relentless. The first bout lasted about 3hours... I hiccoughed my self into the worst headache. The second round only lasted about 30minutes. Both times they went away after I emptied my bladder. I suspect I'm so full of fluid the increased pressure is irritating my diaphragm or Vagus nerve, which goes away when I reduce the pressure. It would probably go away if I took off the compression garment... but thats about 4 months into the future.

I'm going to try to reduce the edema by using Estim today. I am debating using kinesiotaping on my thighs to reduce the bruising and edema around my thighs, but I'm not sure if the tape will do anything the compression garment is not.